THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, July 8, 2011
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell (at) ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Guilty Until Proven Innocent by Last False Hope *
Jungle Drums by Dex Romweber Duo
Shake It and Break It by Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band
What's Goin' On With Grandpa by The Possum Posse
Diesel Drivin' Devil by Carol Huff
The Fall by Fifth on the Floor *
That's What She Said Last Night by Billy Joe Shaver
Music Makin' Mama From Memphis by Hank Snow

Crazy Party by Bloodshot Bill
Great Shakin' Fever by Ray Condo and the Ricochets
Flyin' Saucer by Yuichi & The Hilltop Boys
What's Up With Your Brother by Dave Alvin with Phil Alvin
Precious Memories (The Only Hell My Mama Ever Raised) by The Blasters
Just Tell Her I Loved Her by Joe Swank & The Zen Pirates
Gettin' High by Mama Rosin with Hipbone Slim & The Kneetremblers
Come on Home to Houston by Cornell Hurd
Tell Laura I Love her by Ray Peterson

Too Long in the Wasteland by James McMurtry
The Vintage by The Imperial Rooster
Barnyard Beatnik by Big Sandy & The Fly-Rite Boys
Mississippi Muddle by Hank Penny & His Radio Cowboys
Marie by Beausolei
Goody Goody by Paula Rhae McDonald
Memories Cost A Lot by Whitey Morgan & The 78s
All Men Are Liars by Nick Lowe

City of Shame by Rachel Brooke *
Ruby (Are You Mad) by Buck Owens
The Haircut by John Egenes
Mom and Dad's Waltz by Tokyo Matsu
Desert Rose by The Desert Rose Band
Volver, Volver by Ry Cooder
Go Devil Go by Madam Ira Mae Littlejohn
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

* From the Southern Independent Vol. 1 compilation, available NOW for free at the "Give Me My XXX" website

Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE

Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: Bloodshot Bill plus FREE XXX Music!

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
July 8, 2011

He was one half of The Ding Dongs with Mark “BBQ” Sultan, playing lo-fi, trashy rockabilly. Then he made some curry-flavored rockabilly slop with Sultan’s former partner King Khan in a snazzy duo called The Tandoori Knights.

And now the Montreal maniac known as Bloodshot Bill is once again turning his attention to his solo career. He’s back with an album called Thunder and Lightning.

BB mostly performs as a one-man band. He is always getting himself compared with the likes of Hasil Adkins and Charlie Feathers (he’s got the Feathers hiccup nailed). But a word of caution here: listening to Bloodshot Bill could compromise your patriotism. Nearly five years ago, he got himself banned from entering these United States.

No, it wasn’t drugs, violence, or insurrection. Supposedly he was caught trying to “smuggle” merchandise — I believe it was his “Bloodshot Bill Nice ’n’ Greasy” hair pomade — he was planning on selling at his shows. His website measures the exact amount of time before he can re-enter the land of the free and home of the brave. (As I post this, it’s 125 days, 0 hours, 5 minutes, and 51 seconds.)

Thunder and Lightning is 14 songs, mostly originals, in which BB sings of lost loves, good and bad. Like his recent work with The Ding Dongs and Tandoori Knights, the recording is inspiringly lo-fi, sounding like scratchy old 45s from long- forgotten labels — like it’s recorded in mono. Unlike the new generation of “psychobillies,” BB is basically a traditionalist. No metal riffs, no songs about zombies, Satan, or werewolves. In some ways, he’s the heir to the late Ray Condo, a fellow Canuckabilly.

Some instant favorites here include “Puppy Dog Love,” which, as BB says, isn’t as corny as the title suggests. Then there’s “Hang in There,” which is what the Allman Brothers’ “One Way Out” might have sounded like had it been recorded at Sun Studio in 1955. Meanwhile, on “Old Moon,” Bloodshot’s voice doesn’t sound anything like Johnny Cash’s, but the chunka-chunka beat will remind you of the music of the Tennessee Two.

While most of the songs on this album are loud and fast, Bill can also go low and slow. “Dark Lonely Street,” an Eddie Cochran cover, is nothing short of lovely. The title of “Crazy Party” might suggest a wild romp, but this one is a countryish lament. The craziest thing about it is BB’s weird laugh at the end of the bridges.

Thunder and Lighting is available on vinyl from Norton Records and as an MP3 download at the usual places.

Also recommended:

* Southern Independent, XXX, Vol. One. Earlier this year, I wrote a column about Shooter Jennings and his effort to create a new genre or subgenre or some kind of musical classification called XXX Country. XXX is supposed to be for artists who are “too country for rock, too rock for country.” Don’t expect to find Donny and Marie here.

In case you’re still not quite sure what kind of music this is, Jennings has begun compiling songs by several of his favorite artists and making them available as free downloads. The first volume came out this week.

There is a good mixture of artists you’ll probably recognize — the Drive-By Truckers, Jimbo Mathus, and Shooter himself — as well as several who are well worth discovering, such as Robert Earl Reed, a Mississippi songster whose slow-burning “Road to Hattiesburg,” co-produced by Mathus, kicks off the album with a Southern gothic vibe.

The Truckers contributed “Used to Be a Cop,” a seven-minute saga about a former law-enforcement officer with severe anger- management issues, from their latest album, . Mathus, whose Confederate Buddha I reviewed here a few weeks ago, is represented with a sweet Stonesy ballad called “Skateland Baby,” an old song from an album called Knockdown South. Jennings’ song is a new one, “Southern Family Anthem,” about a proud hillbilly clan. “We may be trash but we’re a family” is the defiant refrain.

Rachel Brooke, one of my favorite newer country artists, whose music I just learned about this year, is here. Her song “City of Shame” — which, like many Brooke songs, sounds sweet though with a dark underbelly — is also found on her excellent album Down in the Barnyard. Her Farmageddon Records labelmate Slackeye Slim does a Mexican-flavored tune called “Introducing Drake Savage.” I can almost hear Calexico doing this one.

“Road Bound” by Bob Wayne is a bluegrass-colored rocker that reminds me of “Rainwater Bottle” by Taos resident Chipper Thompson — though Chipper doesn’t cuss as much as Wayne does, at least on his records.

Then there’s a Chicago band called Last False Hope, which describes its sound as part bluegrass, death metal, and punk. Indeed, the song on this collection, “Guilty Until Proven Innocent,” shows elements of all. And it works. Fifth on the Floor, a Lexington, Ky. band, shows the influence of Billy Joe Shaver on the song “The Fall” — it reminds me of Shaver’s “Tramp on Your Street.”

Somewhat more traditional outlaw-country tunes here include Hellbound Glory’s “Rusted Up Old Pickup Trucks,” “I’m Bitter” (a good-natured song of negativity by Southern boys J.B. Beverley and Ronnie Hymes), and the sweet, nostalgic “Carolina Sunshine” by Cincinnati singer Dallas Moore, with Willie Nelson’s guitarist Jody Payne.

So no excuses. This album’s free! Get yourself over to the XXX website. The second volume is already in the works, and word is Española’s favorite gonzo roots band, The Imperial Rooster, is on it.

UPDATE: This column has been corrected to show that the band Fifth on the Floor is not from Chicago, but Lexington, Ky.

Amazon Cloud Gets Bigger

I've got to do an update to my recent Tune-up column on the Amazon and Google cloud music services.

I couldn't believe my eyes a few minutes ago when playing music from my Amazon cloud I noticed where it once said I had just a few MBs of space left, it now says, "You have unlimited space."

Goodness Gussie, it was true! From an article in CNET posted last night:

For a limited time, Amazon customers who purchase a $20 annual Cloud Drive storage plan will receive unlimited storage space for their MP3 and AAC (.m4a) music files. Previously, Amazon Cloud customers automatically started with 5GB of free storage, upgradable to 20GB with the purchase of an Amazon MP3 album. Additional storage space could then be purchased in plans beginning at $20 per 20GB per year

Since Google launched its Google Music Beta, I've found that I've been using it far more than Amazon. I haven't quite even uploaded half of the 20,000 songs Google lets you store and I was almost at capacity on Amazon with just over 4,100 songs.

Assuming Amazon keeps its feature that lets you download songs -- which means your cloud is an actual storage locker for your music -- that alone makes it a better deal.

Looks like there are still some bugs though. My Amazon uploader just stalled before even starting to upload my massive collection. I'm assuming this will work itself out. If not, then disregard anything nice I said here.

Happy Fourth of July, Fellow Patriots

I've been Blipping some of these but in case you missed those, here they are:

Two years ago today I say The Blasters do this at the Hootenanny festival in Irvine, Calif. This 2010 video features Dave Alvin on lead guitar.



No video action here. Just enjoy this classic fleshtones song:



July 4, 1975: 6 or 7 of us crammed into Mustang convertible and drove from Albuquerque to Santa Fe to party. Turned on the radio and this song started playing. Come on dudes! Let's get it on!



Again, no video. Just a great American song by Wayne Kramer

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, July 3, 2011
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
Webcasting!
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell (at) ksfr.org

Intro Big Enchilada 11
An American is a Very Lucky Man by Fred Waring & His Pennsylvanians
Back in the USA by Chuck Berry
Double Shot of My Baby's Love by The Swingin' Medallions
Rip this Joint by The Rolling Stones
Alabama's Doomed by Wizzard Sleeve
A Natural Man by The Dirtbombs
Women Is Losers by Big Brother & The Holding Company
Cement Slippers by Dengue Fever
Red Red Wine by Milt Buckner
The Flame That Killed John Wayne by The Mekons

Something Broken In The Promised Land by Wayne Kramer
Drunken Angel by The Dark Rags
Take It Easy, Greasy by Bobby Charles
The Sweetest Hymns by The Juke Joint Pimps
Don't Blow Your Mind by The Spiders
Pistol Packin' by Hank III
Uncommonly Good by The Jesus Lizard
Put Down The Carving Knife by Singing Sadie

BARRENCE WHITFIELD SET
All songs by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages except where noted
(Your Love is Like a) Ramblin' Rose
Bip Bop Bip
Georgia Slop by Big Al Dowling
You Told a Lie
Mama Get the Hammer by Barrence Whitfield (from Get in the Groove)
No Kissin' at the Hop
It's Mighty Crazy by Lightnin' Slim
Willie Meehan
Fat Mama
Whistle Bait by Larry Collins
Bad Girl

Flat Foot Flewzy by NRBQ
Muck Muck by Yochannan with Sun Ra
Little Soldier Boy by Doctor Ross
The Throne by The Pussywarmers
Mickey's Son And Daughter by The BBC Dance Orchestra
Fourth of July by X
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, July 1, 2011
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell (at) ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
American Music by The Blasters
The Outkast by Tom Russell with Dave Van Ronk
Southern Family Anthem by Shooter Jennings *
Hell's Angels by Johnny Bond
Sadie Green (The Vamp of New Orleans) by Roy Newman & His Boys
Yes Sir by The Great Recession Orchestra
Your Cousin's on Cops/Some Happy Days by Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band
Grandma Was a Cropduster by Dead Men's Hollow

Keep it Clean by Charley Jordan
Girl on the Billboard by Eddie Spaghetti
Camel Walk by Southern Culture on the Skids
Puppy Dog Love by Bloodshot Bill
Topless Bathing Suit by Kelly Rogers
Lonesome Heebie Jeebie Blues by Jackie Powers
The Cold Hard Facts Of Life by T. Tex Edwards & Out On Parole
I Cry, I Drink and I Cry by Cornell Hurd
Burn the Flag by The Starkweathers

Side by Side Doublewides by The Hickoids
God Fearing People by Th' Legendary Shack Shakers
Rusted Up Old Pickup Trucks by Hellbound Glory *
Skateland Baby by Jimbo Mathus *
Where Could I Go? by Lucille Barbee
Louis Collins by Mississippi John Hurt
Indoor Fireworks by Elvis Costello
The Country Is Young by Jon Langford

My Window Faces the South by Paula Rhea McDonald
Billy Boy by Louise Massey & Her Westerners
The (New) Call of the Freaks by Luis Russell & His Orchestra
Patent Medicine by Dr. West's Medicine Show & Junk Band
21 Days From Macon by John Egenes
The Body of an American by The Pogues
Fourth of July by Dave Alvin
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

* From the upcoming Southern Independent Vol. 1 compilation, available for free Monday July 4 at the "Give Me My XXX" website

Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE

Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list

Back in the Saddle Again

I'll be back hosting the Santa Fe Opry again tonight, 10 p.m. Mountain Time, after taking last week off. Thanks to Laurell Reynolds for sitting in for me.

Even more exciting, in case you haven't hear, KSFR is back on the air, 101. FM, so people in Santa Fe can listen to the show on the radio instead of these new-fangled computer things.

We still don't know whether out transmitter and tower survived the fire on Pajarito Mountain, but we've set up an emergency transmitter here in Santa Fe. Unfortunately the signal doesn't reach very far outside of Santa Fe, so if you're having trouble getting the station, you can still stream us. CLICK HERE

Speaking of forest fires, etc. here's one way to enjoy some fireworks in New Mexico this Independence Day weekend and not have everyone hate you:



Here's what Laurell played last week:


Neil Young & the International Harvesters- Grey Riders/ Nothing Is Perfect/Amber Jean
Steve Terrell (note: Hey! That's me!) -Child of the Falling Star
Joe West-$200 Dollar Navajo Rug
Johnny Cash-One Piece At A Time
Sir Douglas Quintet-Wasted Days and Wasted Nights
Freddie Fender-Before the Next Teardrop Falls
Jack Blanchard & Misty Morgan -Carolina Sundown Red
Freakwater-You've Never Been This Far Before


Lucinda Williams-I Can't Let Go-Car
James McMurtry-We Can't Make It Here
George Jones-These Days I Barely Get By

Tom Russell-Tonight We Ride
Emmylou Harris-Pancho & Lefty
Marty Robbins-El Paso
Louvin Brothers-If I Could Only Win Your Love
Charlie Rich-The Most Beautiful Girl
Don Williams-It Must Be Love
Kris Kristofferson-For The Good times
Eleni Mandell-Don't Touch Me

Michael Hurley - I Paint A Design
Steve Goodman - You Never Even Called Me By My Name
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen - When The Sun Sets On the Sage
Harry Nilsson- Everybody's Talkin' At Me

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: It's Mighty Savage

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
July 1, 2011

Peter Greenberg with Barrence Whitfield
in Santa Fe last year

After a quarter decade, East Coast R & B and soul shouter Barrence Whitfield has reunited with the core of his original band, The Savages, and recorded a mighty new album. It’s called Savage Kings. It’s available in Europe and is scheduled for American release next week on Shake It Records, a Cincinnati label.

Although Whitfield is from Boston and the record was recorded in Cincinnati, there’s a strong New Mexico connection here. Original Savages guitarist Peter Greenberg moved to Taos a couple of years ago.

Greenberg, who once played with Boston garage warriors Lyres (and now plays with Taos band Manby’s Head), instigated the reunion with Whitfield and original bassist Phil Lenker. In fact, their first live gigs together in 25 years or so were last year in Taos, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque.

This is the European cover
of Savage Kings

A history of the Savages, in a nutshell (as related to me in an interview with Whitfield last year): Whitfield was formerly a drummer in a funk band. While working in a record store and studying journalism at Boston University in the early ’80s, he hooked up with Greenberg, who was fresh out of Lyres and looking to start a more R & B oriented band. They recorded a couple of albums together before the original Savages, including Greenberg, began drifting away.

Whitfield pressed on, forming another Savages band and making more albums, including a couple of country-flavored efforts with Tom Russell in the mid-’90s. A confessed vinyl addict, he still works in a record store.

Savage Kings kicks off with “(Your Love Is Like a) Ramblin’ Rose.” No, it’s not the Nat King Cole song or the Grateful Dead’s “Ramble on Rose.” This is an MC5 classic. And Whitfield uses his best falsetto scream to deliver it. It’s followed by a punchy rocker called “Just Moved In” that features a honking sax solo by new Savage Tom Quartulli.

One of the coolest songs here was written by Greenberg and fellow Manby’s Header Mike Mooney. It’s called “Willie Meehan,” and it’s about an old boxer in the early part of the 20th century who actually beat Jack Dempsey a couple of times. Battling Willie, according to the song: “Never did no training / He ate his way to heavyweight.” The opening riffs remind me of The Sonics’ “Strychnine,” which Whitfield also covered a few years ago. Like Meehan himself, this tune is a chunky slugger.

“Shot Down” basically hits that murky borderline between R & B and ’60s garage music. Meanwhile, “Who’s Gonna Rock My Baby,” an obscure old rockabilly tune by Jerry Woodard, sounds as if it were written especially for Whitfield. “Well, I got my call from my draft board today,” the song begins. “Two years might not be that long, but I got to leave my baby at home.”

Whitfield and the band mix things up a bit. The minor-key “You Told a Lie” is basically contemporary blues. You can almost imagine Albert Collins or Robert Cray or maybe even Buddy Guy doing this one. “Bad Girl” is a good old-fashioned riveting soul meltdown; it starts out with a spoken-word introduction and ends with falsetto pleas for mercy.

Since I first listened to this album, my favorite song has been an old Lightnin’ Slim dirty blues classic called “It’s Mighty Crazy.” Captain Beefheart covered this also, at least in his live shows, although he called it “Keep on Rubbing.” (I’ve got it on a live bootleg Beefheart album called Crazy Little Things.) Whitfield’s version is closer to Lightnin’ Slim’s, except he’s got a sax instead of a harmonica.

Whitfield and the boys are touring Europe this fall. I hope the tour is a big success and inspires the Savages to record more.

Also recommended:
* Barrence Whitfield & The Savages. In anticipation of Savage Kings, Whitfield re-released his self-titled long out-of-print first CD, from the early ’80s, complete with a bunch of bonus tracks — outtakes, live recordings, etc. — from that era.

It starts out with “Bip Bop Bip,” a rocker written by soulman Don Covay. It’s got Whitfield’s original version of “Mama Get the Hammer” (the hammer is needed because there’s flies on the baby’s head.”). The song came from a ’50s R & B band, the Bobby Peterson Quintet. But it has become something of a signature tune for Whitfield.

Other must-hears are “Georgia Slop,” a Big Al Dowling tune (written by Jimmy McCracklin), which was later covered by Los Lobos, and “Whistle Bait,” which is a Collins Kids song, originally sung by the pre-teen Larry Collins. Whitfield sings it like an adult — a lust-crazed adult. Greenberg’s big moment here is the breakneck romper “Whiskey Wagon,” a fiery rockabilly slammer.


Among the bonus tracks is a nice slow soulful “Pain in My Heart,” a Naomi Neville tune that is best known for the version by Otis Redding. Whitfield fakes crying at the end of the song. Maybe some real tears were shed in that audience.

This CD has only been released in Great Britain by Ace Records. The good news is you can pick it up for a reasonable price at Amazon and other outlets. It’s worth having the CD because of the fine booklet with extensive liner notes by John Swenson and photos. It’s a savage treat.

BLOG BONUS:

Here's a Marvel Team-Up for you: Barrence meets King Salami! Live in Norway. (It takes about a minute and a half before the music starts.)

It'll Take More Than a Devastating Fire and Mass Evacuation to Stop Russ Gordon!

Russ Gordon, who has presented free concerts in Los Alamos every summer since before they invented the A-Bomb (ok, that's a slight exaggeration) just informed me that the show will go on.

Even though his city has been evacuated due to the fire near Los Alamos, Gordon says the Friday night show has been been moved to the Espanola Plaza.

This week's headliner is James Hyland the former lead singer for South Austin Jug Band. The music starts at 7 p.m.

I haven't heard Hyland, but it would be cool if a big crowd showed up in support. Like all Gordon shows, it's free. Check out his web site HERE

R.I.P. JERRY ROSEN: MY UNCLE

You might not have ever heard of Jerry Rosen. But he was a serious and respected musician.

He was a composer, a founding member of the Department of Music at UC Davis -- " the face of UC Davis Music for a half-century" -- and a member of the faculty of the University of California between his appointment in 1952 and his retirement in 1988.

And he was married to my my father's sister, Sylvia. Jerry always was one of the people I looked forward to talking to at Terrell family gatherings. A few years ago he sent me a CD of an opera he wrote about The Emperor Norton.

Here's a little bit about his music from his obit in The Davis Enterprise.

As a composer, Rosen left some 60 works of solo and chamber music, often including clarinet or saxophone, as well as works for voice and those of symphonic and operatic scope. His large-scale works for saxophone, including a Concerto of 1957 and a Quintet for Saxophone and Strings, 1974, attracted considerable attention, especially in Europe. His two operas, “Calisto and Melibea,” to a libretto by Edwin Honig (1979), and “Emperor Norton of the USA,” to a libretto by James Schevill (1999), were produced in the Main Theatre at UC Davis.


His major song cycle to a volume by the UC Davis poet Karl Shapiro, “White-Haired Lover,” was premiered in 1979; additionally he set poetry of Celeste Turner Wright, including “Campus Doorways,” composed for the inauguration of what is now the Pavilion of the Activities & Recreation Center (ARC), 1978; this was played again for the dedication of Celeste Turner Wright Hall in 1997. For the 75th anniversary of the campus in 1984, Rosen composed the University Fanfare that continues to be heard at the start of each commencement ceremony.

Rest in peace, Uncle Jerry.